It's Just A Crush
by Tiny Wolverine
Summary: Response to Cassie's challenge #2! Highschool, parties, and funky music! Lightning's the freak of the school. Noctis is Mr. Popular. Vanille decides that they are fit for each other.. What is her genius plan? Lightis, AU. You just have to love her!
1. Chapter 1

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It's Just A Crush

_High-school fanfic by Dawn. Fire. Angel_

**Okay, I'll start with the warnings...**

**This story is AU (I'm transporting them to America – watch out California! Noctis is coming to get a sunburn!!), so they won't be in Cocoon/Pulse/Tenebrae/whatever country they come from.**

**Rated T for language!**

_**Disclaimer: **_**I. Own. Nothing!!!**

**Characters may be a bit OOC, so I apologize in advance.**

**That's out of the way - let's get cracking!**

**-cracks nuts and eats them-**

**Read and review!!**

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**-Chapter One-**

_-Lightning-_

He was so beautiful, so firm, so strong, so handsome, so wonderfully...

"Li-ight! Are you listening?"

I jumped and wrenched my eyes away from Noctis to stare, wide-eyed, at Vanille Dia Oerba, my little sister, who was now holding up a hot pink shirt to her upper torso. "Does it match my hair? Or go with my eyes? Do you think Bradley will like it?" she asked eagerly.

"I honestly don't know, Vanny! You know I'm crap with clothes!" I told her, and reached over and picked out a white top. "This one looks all right... I guess," I said, looking down at it with a frown.

"It suits you better than it suits me, that's for sure," Vanille agreed. "I already tried that one on. You go change into it, and we'll see whether it's good for you or not!"

Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Lightning Dia Oerba, and at seventeen years, I'm already the freak of the school. I have long, slightly curly strawberry red hair, light blue eyes, and long limbs. I'm not that tall, but I'm not too short either. I am quite pale for someone who was born and bred in the state of California, supposedly the sunniest place on earth (Well, it is, for about eighty per cent of the time). Vanille, who was a year younger than I, says I move with the grace of a dancer, but I don't see it.

I have a few friends: Vanille (said sister who likes to hang around me, for some reason), Snow Villers (strange name, and big feet too, but he's nice enough), Bradley (Vanille's boyfriend, my age, hangs around me only to be near to Vanny. He wears glasses), and Lebreau who was my age, and the only person other than Vanny and Snow who sticks up for me when kids make fun of me (that's when I'm being held back so as not to commit murder).

I also have a crush, who is currently standing just two feet away from me, so close that I'm surprised he hasn't noticed me staring at him yet. But then again, I was invisible to most people like him. It used to bother me, but I'm used to it now.

His name is Noctis Lucis Caelum (nice name, huh?), and he's uber rich. (Daddy owns a lot of businesses...) He's the apple of everyone's eye (because he's so polite, but a little arrogant), and every girl's dream man. Well, almost every girl. Vanille likes Bradley more. He's my age, is in half my classes but has yet to notice me over the heads of all the big-chested, long-legged beauties that are blocking me from view, and did I mention that he was very, very handsome and probably way out of my league?

Vanille says I can get him if I wanted to, but my sister happens to be a bit biased when it came to me.

"Hey man, when's your girlfriend gonna be done?" I heard him ask Bradley. Bradley shrugged, and shot Vanille a loving look she missed, because she was flicking through the racks for some pieces of flimsy cloth to attract Bradley even more.

I walked past them with the small top in hand to the changing room, blushing when my hand accidentally brushed Noctis' arm, but I might as well be an ant crawling up his pant leg for all the attention he gave me. Wait, no, worse. I was invisible...

I shut the door behind me and locked it, then tugged off my shirt. Then, I pulled on the shirt and stared at myself in the mirror, and frowned. I didn't have the eye for this sort of thing, so I stepped out and called over to Vanille.

My little sister turned around, and her eyes lit up.

"Light!!! You look beautiful!"

Vanille rushed up to me, and I stumbled back. "Here, try this skirt on with the shirt!" she commanded, and a orangey-red skirt was pressed into my hand. I stared at the floaty material, shrugged, and ambled back into the cubicle to change into it.

I didn't look at the mirror this time, knowing that it'll be hopeless. I simply stepped out and let Vanille coo over me.

Then, to my utmost horror, she turned around and called to Noctis and Bradley, "Guys! What do you think of this for Light?"

Bradley looked over the same time Noctis did (he moved his head unwillingly, his face blank), and looked me up and down.

"Not bad, Lightning," he said appreciatively. Noctis didn't say anything. He just stared at me like he didn't know who I was.

I felt a little hurt, but dismissed it. I was, after all, invisible to most of the people in school anyways. Unless they felt like poking fun at me.

Vanille spun me around. "You look fabulous!" she declared. "You're getting it! Definitely!" She then ushered me back into the changing room to change back into my usual clothes.

Another top flew into my cubicle. I picked it up, and raised my eyebrows.

Vanille's voice was audible even through the door.

"Change! Now!"

With a sigh, I did as she said.

--

"So, Noctis, I hear you're hosting a party at your house next week?"

Vanille was chatting amiably to the dark-haired boy, who looked slightly bored and arrogant. I stared down at my drink in silence.

"Not a party," he said. "My parents hold a masked ball every Christmas, and only this year I'm allowed to invite the school. You and your family can come if you wish, Vanille."

She smiled suddenly, looking faintly malicious and triumphant. "Of course we will!" She looped her arm through mine, startling me. I looked up. "Won't we, Light?"

"Er, yeah, I guess."

She gave me her big grin and kicked Bradley accidentally under the table. "Whoops – sorry, honey."

He nodded. "No problem."

I smiled into my drink.

What Snow said was right – they're so cute together.

I cast Noctis a sidelong glance, and noted that the extremely hot, popular boy was staring blankly at the table. My heart lurched when he looked up and met my eyes – but once again, he looked as though he didn't know me.

I looked away, blushing.

Okay, maybe I wasn't invisible after all.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone!! I'm sorry for the delays... but I've got everything under control now!! I hope. :D**

**Anyways, you guys know I don't own Final Fantasy right?? Good!! Good doggy...**

**This chapter's for qwerty91, whose reality (and bills) start soon. Good luck, qwert, in everything! **

**Please review!!**

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**-Chapter Two-**

"Hey, freak!"

I flinched slightly when Rory, a huge basketball player (star of the team, but don't let him hear you say that unless you want an earful of crap consisting of every single block and shot he made in the last few games against the other schools for the championship), stepped in front of me, his cheerleader girlfriend giving me superior looks. I glanced at her swiftly – huh. It was Lauren this week – then turned away, already heading to one of my other routes. I knew the school like the back of my hand, having had to avoid many people all through it to now. But Rory stopped me with a wave at one of his weedy (not so weedy as he was muscular, but you get what I mean) sidekicks. I glanced up at him expressionlessly, and said in an undertone, "If you don't want to get into trouble, you'll let me pass."

I _could_ give them trouble, but that would gain attention to myself. Because, you see, I am very experienced in martial arts. Plus gravity always seemed to favour me – I used that to my advantage. Once that threat was real – I would want to, but Vanille and Snow would caution me against it – but now it was the same thing I said to them every time things like this happened.

Hence their answer.

"Ooh, I'm _so_ afraid, little Lightbulb," Marco – the weedy dude – mocked, rolling his eyes for emphasis. Everyone around me laughed. I didn't answer, having perfected my mask throughout my life. But the smart-ass remark never made it out my mouth.

"Yeah, you _should _be, Marco," a voice said from behind me. I turned to see Vanille and Lebreau standing directly behind me, crossing their arms. Marco leered at Lebreau's chest, and she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Get away from us. You disgust us," Vanille snapped, then took my hand. "C'mon, Light, let's go." She tugged me out the crowd and we headed towards my class.

"Thanks," I said to them quietly. They nodded; Lebreau looked pissed off.

"You should report them to someone."

"They'll hold it against me forever and get worse. Besides, it's not that bad. I'm used to it already," I mumbled. It was kind of true after all.

I slipped my hand out of Vanille's outside my class. "You two should get going, you'll be late."

"My teacher's not here today," Vanille told me, grabbing my shoulder. "Lebreau has Gifted and Talented, and you know how slack that class is."

Yeah I did. Because Noctis and I had almost every class together, including G&T, I used that time to stare at him while pretending not to be. Oh, and sketching pictures (most of which were about him).

I shrugged. "You still can't be late. I'll see you guys at lunch. Thanks again for helping me." I shook Vanille off and stepped into the class.

Noctis and his group were already there. I saw him raise his yellow eyes to see who was entering, but they drifted away as soon as he saw that I wasn't the girl he wanted.

I sighed, and moved towards my desk with my head bowed. I placed my books on it and sat down, taking out my sketchbook from my bag. I flipped it to the page I was currently drawing and, grabbing my pencil, I began to continue the picture of Noctis laughing, his hair messy and his face full of happiness. It was taken from the time I first saw him laugh. I hate to brag but I must tell you that I have photographic memory.

"What're you drawing?"

Bradley's voice made me jump – I slammed the book shut, blushing slightly and panicking. What had he seen?

"Nothing," I muttered. The blond boy grinned and shrugged innocently.

"If you say so." Then, he slipped a note into my hand. "I found this outside your locker – I was gonna put it back in but Vanny told me to give it to you in person because you don't check your locker until the end of school..."

Curious, I took the note and looked at him expectantly. He took the hint. "See ya later," he said with a jaunty wave of his hand.

I was about to open the note when Mr Sazh came in, smiling. "Good morning class!" he said cheerfully. Then he reached into his afro and, to my amazement (no matter how many times he did it, it still amazed and amused me), drew out Hana, the little hybrid chick that resided in his hair.

She was set on his table, where she chirruped happily when she saw us. She ran – there was no other word for her leg movement – to the edge of the table and chirped louder, as if greeting us.

We laughed, and Sazh picked her up to be handed around (this was a ritual because she liked being greeted by everyone).

When she was handed to me, I slipped her a piece of 'Gyshal Green' as Sazh called the food he gave her, but it was actually an unnamed herb that would kill most animals, but not this little one. She chirped, and nipped my finger affectionately. I laughed, and kissed her feathery head before passing her on. For a moment, I almost forgot the note, and wondered what was written in it.

At last, the class commenced.

All the way through the lesson, I was itching to open the note – my fingers kept playing with it – but I knew if I was caught, chances were that Sazh would take it away and read it, and if he was feeling extremely crabby, he would definitely read it out to the class. No matter the note... I'd be made fun of for it.

I glanced to my left, looking at Noctis. He had just looked away... but he couldn't have been looking at me. He was probably just gazing around the class...

Thank God Sazh was called out forty-five minutes later for some meeting or other. I didn't think I'd be able to stand a whole hour. I discreetly took the note and opened it under the table.

I read it once. And again. And again.

My face paled in shock.

There, in printed black and white, was a love letter.

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**Haha! I'm gonna be mean and leave you guys with this for a while!**

**Please review!!**

**I was listening to the sea while writing this... :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey y'all! I was mean to leave you hanging like that, so I decided to do it again with this one!! **

**But you can't blame me... I like being mean!!**

**Disclaimer: This shouldn't be necessary...**

**So reviews shall be given, right? –grins-**

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**-Chapter Three-**

I couldn't believe it.

I just couldn't believe it.

I stared at the letter, and read it one more time:

_Dearest Lightning,_

_I know you think it's strange to receive a letter like this – I feel strange myself even now, as I write this. I'm too shy to tell you face-to-face what I'm going to tell you now: that I think you're the prettiest and most exciting girl I've ever met. I just wanted you to know that even in this school of normality where everyone dislikes strange things, there's someone who has liked you since the day you entered it._

_Sincerely,  
NLC_

Oh. My. God.

NLC.

Noctis Lucis Caelum.

It just wasn't possible. ... Okay, so it was. But for me, that was a total no-no.

Well, at least I had one of my desires and fears answered: I wasn't completely invisible to everyone except for Vanille, Lebreau, Snow and (sometimes) Bradley. Oh, and the jerks who thought making fun of me and calling me 'lightbulb' was a good idea. Which it wasn't. For them.

God, why did this happen to me?

--

I spent the rest of the day with my thoughts on that note. I debated whether I should show it to Vanille, but I decided that it was too dangerous if Bradley, also known as Noctis' best friend, overheard, if he hadn't read it already. But why take chances?

As soon as the bell rang, I shot out from my seat and was the first to get to the door, drawing me strange looks. I surmised (from the way they were looking at me) that they were thinking, _well, she finally cracked._

But I shrugged it off and caught up with Vanille at the doorway. She looked surprised to see me there so fast – usually I waited until all had cleared out from the halls before making my entrance.

"Shall we?" I asked her, and she raised her eyebrows. I tried to shrug innocently. "I'm... hungry." Then, I leaned in close to her ear and murmured, "We have to talk. At home. Alone."

She looked at me, surprised, but went, "Okay."

Thank goodness for good sisters.

--

"So what's up?" Vanille wanted to know as we sat down on her my bed (at least I knew my bed wasn't bugged. Not that hers was, but what would Bradley do in her room for hours on end without her inside? Bug it). "Why'd you rush me home so fast?"

I solemnly handed her the note and she unfolded it, looking slightly confused.

"What..." she stared at it for the longest while, and then squealed so loudly I was surprised that the glass was still intact, "OH MY GOD! LIGHTNING!! This is fabulous!"

"Isn't the new word 'fab'?"

"Yeah, well, fab was too... well, it'll make it the understatement of the year. D'you know who it's from?" she asked me, grabbing my arm.

I tried to shrug her off. "Erm... ow."

"Sorry." She let go of my arm quickly, but continued to stare at me with her emerald eyes. "So... do you?"

"No, but did you see the initials?" I put a finger on the end of the note (written in elegant script).

"Erm, no, I sorta overlooked... Oh. My. Gosh. NLC. Noctis... Lucis... Caelum!! LIGHTNING!!!!!"

"OW, VANNY!"

"Sorry! But... it's... well... awesome! Unbelievable! I can't believe it!" She bounced excitedly on my bed, and ran her eyes over the note again. I sighed internally. "The hottest guy in school saying you're the prettiest and most interesting girl he's ever met! Do you know what this means?"

"Erm... I'm going to stay away from him?" _Because I couldn't control myself around him?_ I added in my head.

"We're going shopping for your dress for the masked ball!" She grabbed my hand and tugged me away. "Come on!"

"Speaking of the masked ball, d'you think the slaves would go on strike with the number of people coming and the amount of food they have to get ready?" But I was ignored... as usual.

Well, she didn't know about my feelings for Noctis, that's for sure.

--

_That weekend, the Caelum mansion_

"I feel like I'm drawing way too much attention to myself," I murmured under my breath to Lebreau and Vanille. They laughed quietly.

"You look beautiful, that's why," Lebreau murmured back.

We were seated at our table, wearing masks. At least, I was. The other two were _holding_ elegant old-fashioned masks up to their faces. They were strange, strange people. Surely their hands hurt now?

"I swear they're not looking at _me_, they're staring at my chest! It's your fault, Vanny, for choosing such a low-cut one..."

"Don't be silly, how else are you gonna catch his attention then?"

Thanks a lot!

"Anyways, they're looking at you because you went out of your t-shirts and jeans, and they've never seen you so beautiful before," Vanille assured me. Not that I felt assured. I just grimaced.

"_Excusez moi, je mai cette danse?"_

"P-pardon?" I stuttered, flaming red beneath the 'sexy' black befeathered mask I was wearing, staring up at the white-blond boy watching me with his gentle gray eyes from beneath his mask. I heard Vanille gasp, and nudge my back not-so-gently. I ignored her, however.

"May I have this dance, mademoiselle?" the guy asked with a faint French accent and a smile. I swallowed nervously, and whispered, "Okay..."

He swept me to my feet (there was no other word for what he did) and led me gallantly to the dance floor. I glanced back and saw Vanille grinning like a cat that's got at the cream, and Lebreau was watching us with wide eyes.

"You are very _belle_," the guy told me. From the little French I took ages ago, I took that to mean 'beautiful'. I smiled to myself – it's been a long time (okay, never) since someone told me I was beautiful. Well, someone other than my mother.

"Thank you. You're not too bad yourself."

I didn't know if he was insulted or something, but he just stared at me. Then I remembered that he was wearing a mask... so I wouldn't know if he was smiling or frowning.

Damn.

He wrapped his hands around my waist and I hesitantly put my hands on his shoulders. I hoped the ring on my finger wasn't cutting him anywhere.

"What is your name?" the guy asked.

I grimaced. "I'll prefer to keep that to myself for a while."

He smiled. "No matter – I will dance the last dance with you."

"The last dance?" I asked curiously.

"It is the time of Unmasking. After the dance. Did you not know?"

"No..." Okay, I'm definitely leaving before that. Waaay before that.

"Do not worry, mademoiselle," the guy told me, having seen my dubious below-eyes expression. (I was frowning slightly). "You have nothing to hide." Out of nowhere, his fingers reached up from my white dress and touched my natural curls. I tensed slightly, and averted my eyes.

That's it – I'm outta here.

At least, as soon as this song was over so he could let me go and I could leave without making a scene.

But when the next song was over, another guy came up to me and asked me to dance. And another. And another.

God damn Vanille and this dress to hell.

At last, I could escape the dance floor and return to our table (now deserted) to get some peace. I must've danced with everyone now. With the exception of Noctis. I was sure that I'd recognize him even in a mask.

Wait... speaking of Noctis, he hadn't made an appearance. Nor had any of his family.

Good Lord, the slaves _were_ really on strike.

I scanned the area, but then I spotted them coming into the room.

Way to make a dramatic entrance.

Noctis swept in, his cool amber-y eyes not glancing at anyone or anything for more than a second. His older brother, Marcus, was beside him with his date, and his parents right behind them.

Good... God.

All of them looked equally hot.

I heard a sigh rise up from the female population (including me and excluding Vanille, who had her own boyfriend she was crazy about), and Marcus grinned flirtatiously, raising a hand to them. (I thought I saw someone faint from where I was seated).

They were all wearing masks, of course. Noctis had opted for the Phantom of the Opera one – he looked slightly bored in his tuxedo.

Pity rose in me. Poor guy – he probably went to so many parties and hosted even more to enjoy this anymore. If he did in the first place.

He strode over to the only table with places no one had claimed and sat down swiftly, his eyes fixed on the table. I noticed that he was fiddling with the edge of the table cloth – but then again, I noticed everything about him.

I sighed quietly.

He seemed to hear me as he glanced up and his eyes locked with mine.

My breathing was cut off, as though someone had blocked the airway or filled the room with some gas no one could breathe. But everyone else was breathing...

I turned pink (dammit!) and looked away, unable to meet his gaze. Like usual.

I saw Vanille and Bradley join him. I kept my gaze politely their way, but not staring at anyone in particular (or at least, that's how it looked like to others), and seemingly deep in thought. I saw Noctis ask Vanille something, and she laughed, and replied with an airy wave of her hand. I could've sworn that she was rolling her eyes.

Noctis frowned, then Vanille pointed to me. My breathing _and _my heart stopped this time. Then, I stood and left the table to get a drink from a passing waiter. I sipped it, and blinked. It was punch with just the littlest bit of kick. Hmm... well, I guess it was better that way. 'Cause I could swear that Vanille and Lebreau were on their fifth drink. Whatever it was they were drinking.

Then someone touched my bare shoulder, and I jumped slightly. Fortunately, the drink stayed where it was meant to stay. Until it went down to my stomach.

"May I have this dance?" a smooth voice asked me.

Oh God.

Vanille Dia Oerba, you are a dead woman.

I turned around to see Noctis in his suit, his hair spiked up at the back like usual, and his hand held out to me. There was a look on his face that I could only define as 'gentle and caring'.

What. The. Fuck?

Then, he repeated the question, the half-smirk that I loved so much quirking the side of his mouth. I blinked, then nodded mutely, unable to believe my eyes.

"That's a nice mask," he murmured in his sexy voice as he slipped his arms around my waist (practically making my heart go into overdrive – hey, if my heart stopped, at least the parameds knew what to do: get Noctis to touch me) and pulling me closer to him. (Dear God, you must hate me so) I wrapped my arms around his neck even more hesitantly than I had with the other guys I'd danced with.

"What's your name?" he asked.

...

What was I supposed to reply to that? He didn't even know my name!

Then I remembered: I was wearing a mask, and my hair wasn't tied into a ponytail as it usually was. Right. I forgot that part.

"I'm sorry, but I'm keeping that information to myself, Noctis." The word spilled out of me for no particular reason, but I felt a tingle in my body as I said his name.

He smiled. "That's all right. I'll unmask you later." His hands were driving me crazy where they were.

"You might have to wait in line," I smiled back. Dammit... "A few others have already asked... and they promised exactly the same thing."

"Oh really?" he murmured a little huskily. "Looks like I'll have to fight for you."

I just smiled slightly, wondering where I got this bout of bravado from. Huh.

When the song ended, I took my arms from his neck and was about to extract myself from him when he pulled me back, stopping and restarting my heart all at once. "Don't go yet, this is a nice song."

"They're not even playing it yet – how would you know?"

"Because I was the one who arranged the song choice."

"Oh right – I forgot that part."

He laughed.

And I was officially screwed. His laughter just made me melt into a puddle of... well, Lightning.

I sighed quietly, and put my arms around him once again. I inhaled his scent – this was probably the only chance I'd ever get to do so up close – and trembled. He smelled better than I'd imagined.

"You're beautiful," he said to me suddenly, then turned pink. Isn't that cute? He's blushing! "Ah... I meant, I just..."

"Thank you," I told him, smiling.

He grinned back, and my mind took a picture of that moment.

Now I realized that he had danced us out to the balcony, and had let me step back, although his hands stayed around mine. Then, he led me over to the railing and finally let me go to lean on it. I stayed a little farther back, and watched the stars.

"It's a beautiful night," I said softly.

"Yeah." But when I glanced down, he wasn't looking at the stars – he was looking at me with a strange expression on his face, now unmasked. Curiosity and... what was it? I didn't know. The kind of look Bradley often gave Vanille...

I looked away, blushing.

What happened next wasn't in my control.

His hands were suddenly reaching up to cradle my face, and his eyes were burning into mine, asking some sort of question – a question that only I, seemingly, could answer.

I didn't know how, but he seemed to get an answer from... something.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. I gasped as his hands moved from my face to my back, and my lips parted when he ran his tongue over the bottom one. He took advantage of this and his tongue brushed mine once before exploring my mouth. He kissed me gently but still somehow passionately, pulling me closer to him until there wasn't space to slip a piece of paper between us. My hands out of their own accord reached up and twined themselves into his hair as one of his slipped up my back and held my face to his.

It wasn't only until his finger slipped beneath the strap of my mask did I jerk away, pushing him off. My lips felt bruised from the kiss, and I reached up to make sure that my mask was in place. Thankfully, it was.

As he stepped forward again to claim my lips once more, I raised on hand, looking away. "Please... stop." My hand slipped through his and felt unbelievably light after I took it away. But I couldn't see why because of my tear-filled vision.

He paused, looking surprised.

"I... why?"

"I just... I'm..." I shook my head wordlessly. "I'm sorry, I can't. I really... have to go. Goodbye, Noctis." Again, saying his name made me tingle.

I whirled around and practically dashed back into the hall, where too many people were kissing or chatting with each other to take notice of me.

I ran up to Vanille and Lebreau, who were talking together near the exit. Thank goodness.

Vanille took one look at me, and her eyes widened.

"Let's go, please," was all I needed to say to them before we hurried out the main entrance and into the car.

Before I left, I caught a glimpse of Noctis staring at me from the entrance of the balcony, his suddenly dark eyes troubled and his face confused.

At that moment, a tear slipped down my cheek.

What was wrong with me?

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**Okay, longest chapter ever!**

**Haha, this one was fun! :D They finally kissed lol. Poor Lightning, she's so overwhelmed. D: If there're any mistakes, it'll be because I haven't been able to reread this because it's late here and I'm frickin tired, but I wanted to put this up so... :D**

**Leave reviews! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Erm... This chapter will be with Noctis for the first part, and Lightning for the second.**

**The plot gets thicker!**

**Next possible update: Wednesday.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. I hope you will review this one too! XD

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**-Chapter Four-**

_-Noctis-_

_She broke away from the embrace, and turned away. The light from the lanterns illuminated what I could see of her face. She was so beautiful._

"_Please stop," she whispered to me as I reached forward to bring her back into my arms. For some reason I felt that she was so fragile and couldn't survive in the world alone. I felt that she needed to be in my arms to be safe. To be mine._

_Her words brought me short. "I... Why?" I asked, confused. The way her face paled in the light made terror seize my heart. Was there something wrong with her?_

"_I just... I'm..." she shook her head in despair, her strawberry locks falling around her face naturally. I wanted to know: she what? She just what? Was she ill? She glanced up at me for a second before looking away again. "I'm sorry, I can't. I really... have to go." She started to back away. "Goodbye Noctis." _

_Her gentle, innocent voice saying my name made me jerk – the way she said it, for some reason, made me shocked and happy._

_And then, she whirled around and left me._

_For a few moments, I was too shocked to do anything, but my brain clicked suddenly and I raced after her. Who was she? I needed to know who she was! She made me feel... natural. Normal. Not the eye-changing boy who was shy and arrogant. A real boy._

_By the time I caught sight of her ivory dress with its golden hems fluttering behind her, she was already at the entrance with Vanille and Lebreau. _

_At the last moment, she turned back._

_I froze, my eyes darkening._

_She was crying._

_--_

"Dude, what's wrong with you?"

I shook my head, dazed. "Sorry, what?"

I'd been playing back the scene from one week ago for the umpteenth time. Each time I felt the same terror, the curiosity, the feeling I had had around her... and the same fear and protectiveness I had felt when I saw a tear running down her face.

"You checked out on us for a minute there for the millionth time. Get your head in the game, would you, if you want to know who she is," my brother said impatiently. Bradley, next to him, frowned at a name. "Erm... she had reddish hair right?"

"Strawberry coloured," I said for the twenty-third time. "And ice blue eyes."

"So she's not Jessica then. Thank goodness for that. Remember when she tried to push Vanille into the swimming pool?"

"Yeah. That would be the..." Marcus frowned. "The fifty-seventh time you mentioned that."

Bradley huffed.

"Speaking of Vanille, I wonder why her sister didn't come yesterday," Marcus said thoughtfully. "You have a crush on her, don't you, Noct?" he chuckled. "I would date her if she wasn't so anti-social. I mean, you feel like you're repelled by her when you're actually entranced by her, don't you?"

I rolled my eyes and said nothing as I picked up another list of names. As Marcus and Bradley traded stories about me making a fool of myself around her (which I totally didn't), I stared blankly at the names, then turned to stare at the ring that was the only thing left of her. Beside my memories.

I sighed, and tossed down the list of names.

"It's no good. It's not any of them, and it's definitely not Vanille's sister. She wasn't there yesterday."

Bradley and Marcus exchanged looks, then frowned.

"What?" I asked, annoyed.

"Erm, Noctis? Don't you think she'll come back for the ring?" Bradley asked stupidly.

I sighed in annoyance. "She was crying yesterday. I highly doubt she'll come back for it."

"I mean, it's huge and all..." he trailed off at the look on my face.

Marcus sighed. "Do us all a favour, Bradley, and shut up."

"Okay."

I coughed to conceal laughter, but a snort escaped me before I could tame it.

Bradley glared at me.

I just grinned.

"But you have to admit, if that ring is really valuable, she will come back for it," Bradley said reasonably, and took a sip of his mocktail.

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"Are you sure it wasn't Vanille's sister though?" Marcus asked, frowning at the list he was looking at. "Because I can swear that she's the only one with ice blue eyes and strawberry-coloured hair." I sighed.

"I'm sure Vanille wouldn't lie," I told them.

Bradley chocked on his mocktail and had to be hit on the back to stop.

I tossed down another list and sighed. "This is hopeless. I might as well go around the school touching every girl until I feel what I felt one week ago." Marcus and Bradley exchanged glances again. "What?" I asked, annoyed.

"Erm, Noctis... you have _no_idea how wrong that sounded," Marcus said. Bradley murmured something I didn't catch under his breath and sipped his drink again.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

Bradley checked his watch, then jumped up, downing his drink all in one go. "Ah, I gotta go. I'm gonna meet Vanny at her house. She's taking her sister shopping and apparently I'm a good pack-horse." He grimaced, and started off.

"Want me to come along?" I offered out of sympathy.

"If you want," he answered, and disappeared around the door.

I started after him, but Marcus stopped me. "Hey, actually _look_ at the girl this time, okay?" he called. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my gloves before setting after Bradley.

--

_-Lightning-_

"NO! LET GO OF ME! ARGH!! GET OFF ME VANNY!! MOM!! HELP!!"

"Come _on_ Lightning! It's just shopping!"

"LET GO OF ME!_ LET GO OF ME I SAY! HELP!!!"_

"Drama Queen."

I stuck out my tongue at my little sister, and tightened my grip on the door. "I'm not going! NOTHING YOU SAY WILL MAKE ME GO!!_ NOTHING I SAY!! NOTHING!!!_"

"Lightning! Come on! It'll be fine! I won't make you get anything you don't want!!"

_"NEVER!! HELP MOM!! HELP!!"_

"Vanille, let go of your sister. Lightning, stop screaming, you have visitors," my mom said with a sigh as she walked by, her eyes glued to her phone as her fingers dialed a number. "Hello? Yes, I'll like to..."

Moms. Jeez. Couldn't she have helped me? I shook my head and sighed as Vanille let me go and ran downstairs to meet Bradley. I stumbled forwards to my bed and yawned. Fighting with Vanille really sapped my strength, as it usually did.

A minute later, someone jumped on me. "Let's go!" Vanille sang in my ear, and started to drag me away when I caught sight of Noctis.

For the millionth time, what happened only one week before flashed in my brain, and I balked.

Yes, it was a week since we'd danced together and I'd left the party in a majorly hysterical fit. And evidently, Noctis was still looking for his 'mystery girl'. When the school's female population (and those outside it as well) heard about it, he had been plagued with all of them until Bradley and his brother had threatened to beat up the next batch of girls who dared to follow him. I guess they were sick of girls following them everywhere in crowds as well. Or they were just protective of their brother (Marcus) and friend (Bradley). Well, for Marcus, it was probably the second case, seeing as how he liked girls plaguing him everywhere...

"Vanille..."

"What, Light?" She sounded annoyed.

"_I thought you told me he wasn't coming!_" I hissed.

"Bradley invited him."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure."

"I'm not lying!" Now she was hurt. Oh damn.

I backpedaled. "I just mean... I'm not going with him. Not after..."

His dark eyes whipped around and met mine. I froze. Oh shit.

"You're coming with us, and that's that, Light. Besides, Mom's having her new boyfriend over – you don't want to see _that _do you?" she said meaningfully. Right. Mom had new boyfriends for every week of the month. They never lasted though.

I sighed. She was right.

Oh boy, do I hate it when she was right.

"Let's go," I muttered, and, avoiding his eyes, I allowed my sister to steer me out the door and into Noctis's car.

--

"Please, no more Vanny," I begged my sister four hours later. "No more. My feet can't stand it."

She rolled my eyes and muttered, "Chicken."

I scowled.

"Come on then, let's go meet the guys." I nodded in agreement, and she led me to the cafe where Noctis and Bradley had retired two exactly three hours and twenty minutes earlier. I envy men. They get to sit down.

"Hey babe," Bradley greeted Vanille and stood to peck her on the lips. I coughed to not-so-subtly hide the words, "Get a room." Vanille smacked me on the head. I winced, and my eyes automatically darted to Noctis.

He seemed to be playing with something in his hand. I frowned as I caught sight of something big and sparkly. "What's that?" I asked curiously. He jumped, and actually looked behind him as if to check that I wasn't speaking to someone else, then looked up at me, obviously confused. Cute. But then again, this was obviously the first time I've ever talked to him personally. Well, the dance didn't count, cause he didn't know it was me in the first place. Secondly... yeah, he didn't know it was me.

"Nothing."

But I thought that it was the ring I had been wearing.

Speaking of which, I hadn't given it a thought up till now.

Oh well.

I frowned slightly to myself, and sat down in the only available seat: next to Noctis. He looked uncomfortable, and just kept gazing down at his drink, his fingers playing with whatever it was in his hand.

Suddenly, there was a tiny sound on the floor. The sound of metal hitting something solid, and clattering to silence.

_Plink, plink-plink._

I automatically ducked down and reached for the ring the same time Noctis did.

Our hands brushed together, and it was as if electricity had shocked us.

We both jumped back.

Only we forgot that we were under the table, and hit it. The drinks jumped, and we both scrambled out from under it and then stumbled away from each other so we were three feet apart. Actually, I was the one who stumbled away from him. Fortunately, the cafe was quite empty today; the only people who looked over at the sounds was the nosy waitress who flirted with Noctis _every time_ he came here, and a teenage couple sitting in a booth opposite us.

Oh shit. I recognized Debbie Martin – the school's biggest gossip.

I am so screwed if this gets out. So's Noctis, but he's popular. He doesn't have to get verbally bullied by the jocks. With a sigh, I tore my gaze from her and turned to the boy whose gaze I could feel burning into my cheek.

Noctis was staring at me as though he wasn't quite sure who I was. Or... like he figured out who his mystery girl was.

He stepped towards me, and held out a hand.

In his hand was the ring that had belonged to Mom's mom. Namely, Grandma.

I panicked, and did the only thing that came coherently into my head.

_Run.

* * *

_

**Please review!! :D I will be very happy. And when I'm happy, I update faster! ^^**

**Also, I'll be giving you guys a free preview of the next chapter. 8D I hope you're happy about that lol!  
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**Love ya!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm back!**

**Thanks for the reviews everyone!! -hugs everyone- You know I love you all!!! ****Hope you guys enjoyed the sneak peek. ;) XD **

**I'm not high, I just have a frickin headache. D: Also, one of my baby hammies died... -cries- It's so frickin cute!! but it died!! -hugs random in the crowd- **

**Please review!!!**

-**Chapter Five-**

"Hey wait!"

I ignored him and kept running, faster and faster. Who knew I could speed up so much without tripping over my feet when I needed to? The track leader was going to be happy if he found out – all they needed was to get Noctis to chase me, which I was pretty sure was against the rules.

I ducked into an empty alleyway and hid there until I heard his footsteps go by.

With a weary sigh, I stood and dusted myself off before going back the way I came, only to halt in surprise. Vanille and Bradley skidded to a halt in front of me. And judging by the look on Vanny's face, I was in deep shit.

"Light! How could you just run away like that?" she demanded.

I shrugged. "It was easy."

"But Noctis!"

"He's somewhere in front. You'd better go intercept his flight before he hits something," I told Bradley, who groaned and set off after the dark-haired boy.

I sighed and leaned against the wall.

Vanille punched my arm.

"Hey, ow! That hurt!"

"It was supposed to, you dumbass! Why did you run away? He wasn't looking for you for nothing you know!" she yelled in frustration, practically tearing at her hair and stamping her foot in a full-blown hissy.

"I panicked, okay? I mean, it's Noctis! And I'm... me!" I yelled back.

She rolled her eyes and groaned at my stupidity.

"_Why, _Lightning?"

"Look, can we just go back home?" I asked exasperatedly.

She looked exasperated. "We have to wait for them, because they've got the keys."

"We'll take a cab. I can't stand... well, let's just take a cab back."

--

The next day, Sunday, I was able to avoid another shopping trip (Thank you, maker of Chemistry). Vanille and Bradley set off by themselves as I stayed home to 'finish my homework'. Not that I had any.

I plugged my earpieces in my – surprise, surprise – ears and put the music on loud, then grabbed my sketchbook to finish drawing the laughing picture of Noctis. For some reason, his eyes didn't look quite right. I frowned, erased them out gently and started again.

My mom opened the door just as I was adding highlights to his hair, causing me to jump in surprise. I tossed the book Noctis-down on my bed, put aside my pencil, took out one earpiece and yelled, "MOM! Haven't you heard of knocking?"

"I knocked, but you didn't hear me," was her answer. "You've got a visitor." She sounded as surprised as I felt. I frowned. Only Vanille got visitors in this house. Well, Vanille and my mom.

"Who is it?"

"Some boy. A friend of yours?" Without waiting for an answer, she backed away, and a tall, black-clad boy entered my room.

My eyes widened.

Noctis.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed at him. He shrugged, looking around. "Nice room." He touched my royal blue wallpaper and smiled. "It matches your eyes."

I glowered at him.

"Why did you run yesterday?"

I shrugged.

"Okay... why did you run away from me that night?"

Another shrug. This was fun! Not.

He sighed. "Why aren't you answering me properly?"

"What's this, twenty questions?"

"Pretty much, yeah." He sat on the edge of my bed. Note to self: cut out that part and frame it up on the wall. Noctis sat on my bed! Time to scream into my pillow.

Instead, I eyed him. "What do you want?" I asked.

"I know it was you," was his answer. "The girl that night. I just want to know why you keep running from me."

"Oh, you know, because it's a little hobby of mine," I said sarcastically. He chuckled slightly, and patted the place next to him.

"Come closer," he said to me. Like a fool, I did.

He ducked his head and I looked up into his glorious, burning yellow eyes. His face grew serious and his sweet breath fanned across my face, causing a lump to appear in my throat. I swallowed, but couldn't move as his hands moved up my arms and pulled me close. "Will you answer me today?" he whispered to me.

I shook my head.

He smiled and pulled me closer.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

I shook my head still. "Whatever trick this is, it's not working," I lied, and broke free. "Could you go now?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Not until you tell me why you ran away."

I shrugged. "You're not getting that out of me."

He sighed.

"I'll come back another day... be ready to answer my questions," he warned, and stood. Then, he seemed to remember something. "Oh right – here, your ring." He delved into his pocket and drew out Grandma's ring. I took from him with my nerveless fingers.

He looked down at my sketchbook. I grabbed it quickly and deposited it into my cupboard. Noctis grinned, and started out the door.

"Will you walk me out?" he asked, turning to me suddenly.

I swallowed.

"How about no?"

"That's not being a very good hostess," he teased. At least, I thought he was teasing.

I rolled my eyes. "I never invited you here in the first place. Don't you have empires to topple or something?" I asked. He shook his head, smiling slightly.

"You're different from other girls I've met."

"How so?" I queried.

He laughed. "That I will tell you when you answer my questions. Goodbye, then, Lightning." A small smile curved his perfect lips. "I will see you in school."

As he left, I could hear my mother flapping her lips. "Noctis, dear, would you like to stay for dinner?"

"No, it's all right, Mrs Dia Oerba. I'm expected at home."

"Oh, just go ahead and call me Toni."

"Of course, ma'am. "

She paused, and I thought she smiled. "Take care of my Lightning, will you? She's rather delicate, and very sensitive ever since her father died. I'm not too sure that the Snow boy is good for her... Maybe you can steer her away from him? He seems... well, he's nice, but he's very... _big._" I could almost imagine Noctis snickering behind his hand. (He was coughing, but it was so fake)

I groaned into my pillow. "MOM!" I yelled. "For the millionth time, Snow's _not_ my boyfriend!! He's just a friend! And I'm _not_ delicate _or_ sensitive, for God's sake! _I'm perfectly fine!_"

I was, as usual, ignored. God damn it!

My mom said, "So, take care of her, will you? Like I said, she's delicate and sensitive... like so."

So I wasn't ignored, but being played.

I hate my mom.

Noctis laughed. "She doesn't seem so to me, but I will protect her as though my life depends on it," he promised. The vow and the seriousness in his voice caused my chagrin to fade and my love and shock rise. My heart leaped, stopped, and started again, thrice the usual speed.

Was he saying, in his own way, that I was his life?

* * *

**-still crying into random's shoulder-**

**Huh? Oh!**

**Please review!!! **

**-continues crying into random's shoulder- D'8**

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**I RETURN!!!**

**Ahh!! Transformers 2 is so cool... -sigh- XD So much action!! -hugs the movie and smiles-**

**Anyways, back to the story~~**

**I'm probably not going to update until next Sunday, but that doesn't mean you can't leave reviews. =)**

* * *

**-Chapter Six-**

"As you can see, the formula for cosine is..."

I yawned, and rested my head on my hands. Math was just too easy and extremely boring – why did I even take it up again? Oh right. Two words: My mom.

Something hit the back of my head, and I jerked upright, snatching the wad up ball of paper that had been thrown by some idiot who was really testing my patience. This wasn't the first time.

I tossed the ball away, and heard a slight snarl of frustration. A smile touched my lips, and I took out my exercise book to copy down the equation we were supposed to be doing now. Another ball flew past my shoulder, and I whipped my neck around, maybe a little too fast.

Hmm. Who knew that I was in Bradley's class?

He looked irritated as he motioned for me to open the note, and I grimaced at him before turning back around to do so. When I did, my eyelid twitched. Vanny once said that Bradley's handwriting was like spiders who had dipped their feet in ink doing the waltz. At the time, I thought she had been exaggeration, but now I could see why.

I bit down on my lip, hard, and read the note.

_Where's your sister?_

God he was obsessed. After scribbling my reply, I turned around – Mr Banner was busy scratching more equations on the board, and he never usually cared what we did unless we hit him with chalk, which happened last year with the graduating class – and tossed it back to him. The paper ball hit him in the forehead.

Bulls-eye.

He read the reply (_She's sick at home. Will be back tomorrow)_ and scribbled something else before throwing it at me again. I snatched it out of the air before it hit me in the eye. _That was a close call._

This time, I deciphered his writing to say, _Can I talk to you? Lunchtime, behind the school._

I looked sideways, and nodded once to show my approval. He looked relieved, but I couldn't see properly. My eyebrows knitted together. If he was going to dump Vanille... oh boy, I can't even explain what I would do to him then.

Turning back to the front, a random thought occurred to me.

_Hey, the back of Mr Banner's head looks like a football._

--

The bell rang, and students swarmed the hallways, heading for the cafeteria. I hung back until the line wasn't so long before stepping behind the last guy. Lebreau joined me a second later, and said that she would be eating outside. I shrugged; I didn't really care. As you can see, I was more or less the loner of the school.

I liked it better that way.

I took my ham-and-cheese sandwich from the lunch lady and walked away to pay for it, along with a purple Borba (four bucks a bottle and you'd think they'd add a bit more kick*) and an apple. The sandwich I took for Snow, whose stomach I swear to be a black hole. Nothing filled him up. If he were at an all-you-can-eat buffet, he would finish everything and still be hungry, I swear to God. But it was a good thing – for one, a recyclable rubbish bin that moves when you ask it to.

I handed the wrapped sandwich to Snow, grabbed the apple and the Borba, bit into the former, and headed away. I could see Bradley catching my eye, and standing as I headed for the entrance.

Bradley took my arm as he sped past me, and practically dragged me past the freshmen and in the alley behind the school. I dropped my apple somewhere in the process of being dragged along to the place.

There was someone else waiting there for me.

I balked, and tried to run away, but Bradley had a too-tight hold on me, and Noctis came out of the darkness to grip my shoulders and yank me so I had my back to the wall. Frightened, I tried to twist away and scream, but my throat had dried and my attempts were weak.

"Stay still," Noctis instructed me. Bradley left, and it was just me and Noctis, all alone in the darkness. The idea should have scared me, but instead, I felt a thrill run down my spine as he drew his face nearer to mine. I could feel his breath on my lips.

"What do you want?" I asked in a futile attempt to distract him as I twisted, but – damn he's strong – he shoved me harder against the wall. I winced as the brick cut into my back.

"Sorry," he said, loosening slightly, but not enough for me to manage to get away. "I just... I... well, I need your answer, Lightning."

"Fierce," I muttered, still twisting in his grip. My efforts were wasted as he stepped slightly closer, disabling any chance I had of escape.

"Funny," he replied, no amusement in his eyes as he watched my attempts. "Will you answer me now? I've given you a day to think your answers already." Was it my imagination, or did he sound weary?

"No."

"Will you ever answer me?" he asked, looking exasperated.

I shook my head.

"Do you want me to force the answers out of you?"

Again with the no-shake.

"Did you run away because you didn't like me?"

I was about to shake my head when I stopped and bit my lip. He smiled a little triumphantly, and stepped closer to me so that our bodies were pressed against each other. He ducked his head down and smiled at me.

I swallowed.

"So you do like me?"

_Don't say yes, don't say yes, don't say yes..._

His eyes widened, and a small grin escaped his lips as my head ducked slightly. He moved his face closer to mine until our foreheads were resting against one another.

"I didn't say yes!" I snapped at him.

"Oh didn't you?"

I nodded.

He laughed, and ran a finger down the length of my face. I shivered, and instinctively tried to back away, but he merely kissed the side of my mouth and closed his eyes with a sigh that caused all my senses to shut down.

"Oh shit." He caught me as I slid down the wall, and set me upright. I swayed. "Are you all right?" he asked me softly.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him, looking at him. "I don't understand. What do you want to do with me? What was with the note you sent? And don't you care at all about your status here? If you hang around me, I guarantee your immediate decline in position. Besides, there're so many other girls here who'd willingly give their right arm to be with you. Or even their hair, for that matter," I added as an afterthought. He laughed.

"It's because you're different from everyone I've ever known," Noctis said to me, and his amber eyes glowed. "You're beautiful but not shallow, you're interesting and you don't care about your looks, you never give up, you're quiet and mysterious... you intrigue me. I just want to know you better, find the person behind the 'freak of the school'. I know you're in there somewhere... Also, you like Breaking Benjamin." He gave me the perfect, alluring smirk that had the entire female population falling at his feet and licking his Nikes clean. (I glanced down involuntarily, and – surprise, surprise – he was wearing his black Nikes)

I gawked at him.

He grinned. "I saw your CDs."

I blinked quickly, unable to comprehend.

"Are you all right? You're turning white."

I shook my head, fending him off as he came closer. "I'm fine!" I squeaked, and whirled and ran away.

Again.

Only this time, consciousness seeped from my fingers the moment I stumbled into sunlight. I could hear some people calling my name as the world swirled around me and I fell gladly into darkness. The last thing I remembered thinking was, _I hope the concrete won't leave a bruise._

Then, I blacked out.

* * *

***Quoted directly from Jason Freeman, Vampire Beach: Bloodlust**

**I just loved that quote! For some reason I found it damn funny... XD But that's probably just me, hmm?**

**So... reviews will be much appreciated! -hugs reviews-**

**I'm high...**

**STUPID CHOCOLATE BROWNIE!!! **

**-goes to emo corner and curls into ball-**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well, I decided to rewrite this chapter because I really couldn't see how to end her sickness nice and fast! Sorry if it confuses you. **

**And I'm back!**

**In case you haven't noticed.**

**I'm double-updating as an apology... plus, I promised the other chapter ages ago! So I feel bad. So I'm writing two chapters. So you guys should review. Lots. Comprehende?**

**Go to my profile page for the announcement. **

**Please review!!

* * *

**

**-Chapter Seven-**

Someone was shaking my shoulder. My back was... aching? ... What the hell happened to me?

Hang on, I know. I fell off the bed. Again.

Curse my tendency to sleepwalk and my lack of balance. Those two things were never meant to be combined together, but God decided that He needed a laugh and put them in me. Of all people.

The shaking intensified.

I groaned. "Go 'way Mom."

There was a short chuckle, and I frowned, my eyes still closed. "Did Vanille let you in, Snow?"

"Mm. Open your eyes."

Wait a second.

That's not Snow's voice...

My eyes shot open.

"How the hell did you get in my room?!" I shrieked. Noctis flinched at the pitch my voice rose to. "Ow."

"Sorry. But... but..."

"Look around, Lightning."

I did.

And guess where I was?

Yep. In the nurse's room.

"What the he-"

"I'd warn you not to finish that sentence," Noctis told me, smiling slightly. Oh God, his lips looked so soft. "Nurse Higgins is somewhere outside, and you know what a tattletale she is."

I tried to wrench my gaze from his lips, but failed. What happened to my willpower?! Good God Lightning! This guy is messing with your though processes. That leaves only one solution: Run, bitch, run!

"You passed out earlier," he offered when I opened my mouth to ask what happened.

Oh.

"Why?"

"Did you forget to breathe or something?"

Yes. But I'm not going to feed your overlarge ego.

"No."

"Are you sure? I could've sworn you weren't sucking in air..."

Bastard.

"I'm sure."

"Okay then." He sat back and kept his gaze on me. I stared back, feeling heat rise up my neck. No, bad Lightning!

I felt like knocking myself out.

Or better yet, putting a bullet through my brain. That way I wouldn't need to deal with this. I heaved a sigh, and crossed my legs underneath me. Noctis raised an eyebrow at me, so I returned the favour, then winced.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

I ignored him, and reached up to feel my forehead. There was a tender spot... shit. Not a frickin' bruise!

"Your fringe can cover that, don't worry."

"Who said I was worrying?" I shot back.

He smirked. "I can tell. You get this little ridge in between your eyebrows when-" He stopped himself, and looked away.

My eyebrows shot up; this time, I ignored the sting of the bruise. "Have you been watching me?"

He mumbled something incomprehensibly and ran a hand through his dark hair. "There's a painkiller on the desk next to you, and school's almost over." I recognized his attempt to change the subject, but I didn't comment on it because I realized that...

"I've been sleeping for almost three hours?!"

"Yeah."

"What?!"

"I said, yeah!"

"No, what?"

"... yeah!"

"... what?"

"... Screw you." He sat back and scowled, looking like a sulky child. I grinned widely.

"I don't think that's anatomically possible." I reached for the painkillers and downed them. Almost immediately, the pain faded away from my forehead.

"If you weren't a girl, I'd hit you right now."

"And if you haven't been secretly watching me."

Noctis groaned. "I knew I should've kept my eyes to myself. Looking at any girl boost her ego, whether they care for clothes and make-up or not."

I smirked. "A little too late for that, hm, Princey?"

"What did you just call me?" He looked up at me with his amber eyes. They were narrowed. If I was in my right mind, I'd take it as a hint to shut the hell up. But who said anything about a right mind, if I even had one?

"I just called you Princey," I answered innocently, then squealed when he lunged forward and pinned me to the bed. "Hey! Help, help!"

"Shush!"

I quietened down, and noticed how close we were to each other. I could feel his breath on my face, smell the aftershave he used, and his clean, sharp, Noctis smell that I associated with him and him only. What was it about that scent that seemed to make my breath hitch and my heart stop?

His amber eyes locked with mine, and I was aware that I was starting to breathe faster. He seemed to draw closer... closer... and then...

"What are you two doing?!"

Noctis shot up, letting me go, as Nurse Higgins burst in. Bradley was behind her, his eyes wide as he assessed the situation: a hyperventilating pink-headed freak, and a wide-eyed, guilty-looking hottie. Not that Bradley'll say that he was a hottie... because that'll be gay. And he's not.

"Nothing, ma'am," Noctis said, having recovered himself. "I was just..." his voice faded, and he seemed to be trying to think up an excuse.

"Pushing me back in because I was trying to get out," I saved him. "A girl can't use the toilet, Caelum?"

Noctis flushed slightly. "You didn't say you wanted to use the toilet."

"Well, you know now." I swung my legs out and tried to stand up. Bradley's eyes moved back and forth between us as we bantered on like old friends. A smirk twitched his lips before he controlled his expression.

Nurse Higgins frowned at us, then came over to me. "How're you feeling?" she asked abruptly.

I shrugged. "Normal. Just a little spacey, thanks to the painkillers."

"It'll pass. You can go home now."

"I'll take her home, driving when you're drunk is prohibited," Noctis offered.

"I'm not drunk!"

"Spacey works."

I scowled.

Bradley cleared his throat. "Actually... I'm taking her home. I'm going to see Vanille anyways."

"I'll take you both there." His tone left no room for argument, so Bradley and I exchanged glances, and sighed.

"All right, Princey, you win."

"Princey?" Bradley raised his eyebrows at me.

Noctis cleared his throat, and said, under his breath, to him, "Don't ask."

Bradley nodded, but when Noctis escaped the room, he mouthed, "Tell me later."

I grinned in acknowledgement and agreement.

--

Back home, Mom had a... not so wonderful surprise for me.

I knew something was up she opened the door before I could get my keys out. "Hi sweetie." Then, she saw Noctis and Bradley. "Hey, Noctis, Bradley." They both smiled; Noctis waved at her, then stuck his hands in the pocket of his dark jeans while Bradley said hi.

"Mom, you can step aside now." I tried to go in, but she barred my way. "You look kinda harassed. Something wrong?"

"Er, sweetheart, I know you don't-" she started to say, but another voice caught my attention.

"ONEE-SAN!!"

And in a flurry of pink, white, and pain, I was bowled over and tightly squeezed in a hug. Serah pulled back and beamed brightly at me, her pinky hair pulled back in a braid as usual. I used to be jealous of her straight, sleek hair, but now I couldn't care less. Then, she hugged me again, tighter than before.

Did I mention that I have another sister?

Probably not.

I coughed. "Serah, you're choking me."

She loosened her grip slightly. "I'm so glad to see you!"

And if Serah's here...

"Lightning."

I sat up, and glared at my older twin by a less than a few seconds. "Cloud."

The blond boy looked at me with slight contempt. Despite being twins, we weren't all that close – I stuck to my mom while he played football with dad. We were fraternal twins, meaning we didn't look alike. We didn't have that psychic connection other twins talk about as well. But that probably came from the fact that we weren't close, as I said.

I got up, still glaring into the strangely glowing blue eyes of my twin. Mom said that it was because of this strange radiation he was exposed to when he was a kid... I said that it was because he was such a bastard that he had to be marked in such a way. And that he was a freak.

Like me.

Only in a more literal sense.

Cloud had grown kinda hot, actually, with his lean build and handsome face. He was about as tall as Noctis now, but his hair was still the same: spiky and chocobo-like. I took comfort in that; I could still tease him about that then.

I haven't seen him since... well... two, three years ago? That time he was still a little runty and childish.

But now...

I crossed my arms, mimicking his stance. "How's Tifa?" I asked.

"Better than you."

"Obviously." I curled my lip in distaste. Not that I didn't like Tifa – no one could dislike the happy, enthusiastic, caring brunette – but because I knew it irked him when I did it. I'd talked to Tifa at New Year two or three years ago, and we'd hit it off immediately. I asked her what she saw in my twin, and when she started to go on and on, I groaned and mimed puking, much to her amusement. "I take it you two aren't close?" she'd asked.

"Understatement of the millennium," I'd answered.

"You still single?" When I didn't reply, he smirked. "I can see why."

Someone shifted slightly behind me. I thought it was Bradley.

"I prefer to keep my options open," I said through gritted teeth.

Yep, Cloud and I hated each other with a passion.

Serah nibbled on the end of her braid, looking back and forth between us. I automatically brushed her braid from her mouth. "Don't do that." How I missed her.

Mom cleared her throat. "Well. Noctis, Bradley, would you like to stay over for dinner?"

"Is Dad here?" I asked. Noctis looked at me in confusion - I remembered that Mom told him that Dad died. Oh well. I'll explain it to him later. I'll have to ignore his look for now... if I could

My mother looked uncomfortable. I took in her appearance; she was wearing her suit still. No wonder.

"Yes, sweetie, I sent him out to get us more potatoes," she said.

Serah giggled at that. "He'll mistake radishes for potatoes, I swear."

"Which is why I said 'radishes' instead of potatoes, Princess." Everyone loves Serah, just like everyone loves Vanille. It's a must-do in our family... and our circle of friends. She's just the cutest, sweetest thing anyone will ever see. Vanille was next, with her natural happiness and sweetness. And there was the cute factor.

Noctis looked slightly overwhelmed (I don't think he knew I had two more siblings, or that my Dad was actually alive), but he nodded in answer to my mother's question. "Yeah... sure. I'll just ring my parents."

Bradley nodded. He didn't have to ring his parents. He was already going to stay here for dinner today.

"Dad might take sweet potatoes instead," Serah piped up.

My mom smiled at Serah and kissed the top of her head. "Then I hope his companions know what potatoes look like, then, hm? Go get Vanille, please sweetie?"

My youngest sister nodded, and bounded off.

I waited until she was out of earshot, then blurted, "Mom, what the fuck?"

"Language," Cloud muttered under his breath, throwing me a smirk.

"Look who's talking."

Mom sighed and rubbed my arm. She knew how I hated my dad and Cloud. She also knew how I hated having to dress up in my best every time Daddy darling came over. "It's only for a week."

"A _week!?" _my voice rose into a super-high pitch.

Fortunately, Vanille came down then, sniffling slightly. Her nose was red. My lips twitched; she looked cute like that. In a slightly clogged up voice, she went, "I wanted to warn you, Light, but Mom wouldn't let me. She said you'd run away like last time."

Then, she caught sight of Bradley, froze, spun around and fled to her room screaming. All eyes went to her boyfriend, who looked kind of surprised and amused.

"I didn't know I was that hideous."

* * *

**That's it! I'll be posting the other one sometime later, I promise! I just gotta change it a little. :) Ciao all! Please review!**

**Wow I missed writing this one!**


	8. Chapter 8

**I wrote this some time ago, but for some reason I didn't feel that it was up to standard, so I didn't post it up. Not to mention that I was changing the last chapter... Sorry guys. **

**It's now edited, so hopefully it's better now!**

**Yep, Cloud's the brother! Guess who's good ol' Daddy. **

**That'll be revealed...**

**In this chapter.**

**By the way, sorry for confusing you! In chapter... five? I think I put that her father died somewhere around there. Don't worry, it'll be explained somewhere in this chapter!

* * *

**

**-Chapter Eight-**

It took one hour to stop Vanille from screaming, forty minutes to persuade her to come back down, and another one hour to snatch the pillows and the blankets away from her and half an hour to pull the paper bag off her head.

All I could say was, thank God Serah was here or it'd take twice as long.

Cloud wasn't much help though. He just stood there, in what I shall now call the 'emo-corner', and laughed his bloody ass off. I swear he pissed in his pants, but I didn't point it out. Yet.

All that time, Noctis looked like he was trying not to burst out laughing, so hard that at times he looked slightly constipated. Bradley was smothering his laughter because he knew she'd have a hissy fit about it, but he was close to failing.

I managed to stop Vanille from running away again by saying that she could doll me up.

Cloud looked like he was really going to piss in his pants now.

Serah offered to help, and I was dragged upstairs while Mom whiled away her anxiety by chopping up the potatoes Dad brought back and mashing them. The chefs had a day off today.

Dad was shoved into the television room before he had the chance to say hello to me by Vanille, who just went in her cutely clogged up voice (I hate my sister sometimes; she sounds like a sugar mouse), "You can talk to her when she looks pretty!" to which I replied, with a pout and faked insult written on my face, "You mean I'm not pretty now?"

"No, not really!"

She's lucky I knew she was joking.

Cloud wasn't, though.

I don't think he saw my fist coming at him.

So he's now cursing fluently under his breath, holding his jaw. "Language," I mocked him as Vanille shoved me up.

He merely scowled in reply.

"Okay! So Noctis is here, which means you gotta wear something sexy and casual-" Vanille started

"Lightning likes Noctis?" Serah asked, her eyes lighting up. "Are we gonna play matchmaker? He's kinda hot, right Lightning?"

Vanille shushed her, and dug around in my closet. "Dad's here as well, so it means you can't settle for anything less than expensive, and it can't be too sexy either. Soo... this one would do!" she crowed triumphantly, and tossed me a sleeveless long red-and-black shirt that went down to my thighs.

"Vanille, I _am _wearing pants with this, aren't I?"

"Of course not!"

"What?! Dad will kill me! Mom will gut my corpse and hang my intestines over the fireplace! My ass will be seen!! You know what that means!"

Serah wrinkled her cute nose. "Gross, Lightning."

"Shut up Light, she won't do that, and no I don't know what that means! And I was kidding... here." She tossed me a pair of jeans, and sat back. "Go change, Serah and I'll see what we can do about your makeup..."

"Makeup?" I gulped audibly.

"Just go get changed! I need to change too..." she frowned at her t-shirt and shorts, then bounded off. How could someone with the cold be able to still be so perky and hyper?

Serah was already dressed up nicely, like always. She was in a pink summer dress and a white short-sleeved jacket, and her makeup was light. I stared at her thoughtfully, then said, "I want you to do my makeup."

She grinned. "I know. Vanille wouldn't let me, though."

"Too bad. It's my face."

"And her makeup."

I scowled, and went to the bathroom to change.

When I came out, Vanille was in a deep green sleeveless, strapless short dress (fortunately, not that short). She took one look at me, shook her head, and delved back into my closet. I groaned.

"Vanille! This is fine! In fact, it's too much."

"Nope! You gotta be perfect for your dark knight." She came out with a knee-length rose red dress, with, thankfully, straps. I snatched it out of her hand and stormed back into the bathroom to change.

Curse you, Prada.

I came out again, and noticed immediately that Vanille already had her makeup done and was waiting for me with a compact in hand. I paused, and glanced at the bathroom with a frown. "How long was I in there again?"

"Five minutes," Serah said helpfully. She was lying on her back on my bed, looking at my ceiling. "I like your bed."

"Thanks."

Vanille shoved me into the chair, and started the special kind of torture.

I resigned myself to it.

It's hard to argue with the force of nature called Vanille, so it's safer and better not to even try.

--

I change my mind.

_This_ – _insert wild gestures at everyone sitting around the table here –_ is torture.

It was so quiet – except for Serah and Vanille's nervous jabbering, and Bradley and Noctis' quiet answers to my parents' small-talk queries – that it felt strained. The only people who didn't look perturbed were my father's 'companions'. They were more like bodyguards really. There were four of them – the redhead: Reno, the bald guy: Rude (what a name! But then again, who names their kids after things in the sky anyways?) , the stuffy looking guy who seems partial to my littlest half-sister: Tseng, and the blond woman who seemed like she was trying not to laugh at something Reno was doing: Elena.

I glared at Cloud over my plate of food. He looked slightly uncomfortable to be honest... but it could just be me.

Noctis was sitting between Cloud and Reno, directly opposite me. He looked kind of uncomfortable.... but that might be because Reno kept flicking bits of potato at Elena, and she was flicking them back and missing. Bits of potato kept flying underneath his nose... poor guy. (Thank goodness Tseng finally put to a stop their childish antics with a glare)

I didn't meet my real father's eyes – no, my _birth _father.

Rufus Shinra was the man who made me, Cloud, Vanille, and Serah, and then ran off with Cloud and Serah after she was born. My _real _father was the man my mother married after Rufus left her – Cid Highwind, the cussing, tough yet gentle pilot whose wildness caused for his early death. We all loved him – at least, Vanille and I did... Serah and Cloud never knew him.

He was the man I always wished was my real father. He had his quirks, but he was lovable all the same...

I hated my birth father with a passion for leaving us.

Vanille didn't mind 'Dad'. In fact, right now she was chattering to him excitedly about something... clothes? The latest Shinra technologies? I'm not really listening.

Someone kicked me.

Ow.

Noctis raised his eyebrows, then asked quietly, "Are you okay?"

I shrugged and my eyes cut sideways slightly to glare at Rufus.

He looked at me. And smiled.

That's right.

Smiled.

I scowled back.

He grinned.

Fuck you too, Dad.

"So, Lightning. Is Noctis here your boyfriend?"

Noctis, who had just taken a mouthful of water, proceeded to choke to death. Cloud helpfully hit him on the back – maybe he's not that bad after all. Or maybe it was some kinda guy rule that you have to help each other.

I didn't reply. At least, that was what I planned to do until my mom reached past Vanille and flicked my knee. Ow. That woman has sharp nails.

"No, Dad," I ground out, giving Noctis an apologetic glance. He shrugged.

What he did next killed me, then resurrected me to kill me all over again.

He grinned at Rufus. "Well, sir, I plan on asking her out, but I'm afraid she'll reject me like the other guys."

"What other guys?" Cloud and I muttered under our breaths in unison. We immediately returned to glaring at each other.

"You're a nice enough boy," Rufus smiled, although there was something else in his eyes I wasn't really sure about, "I'm sure she'll like it if you did ask her out, despite everything she says and does."

"She did run away the first few times," Noctis offered. Promptly, I turned to Vanille and went, "Is my face on fire?"

She shook her head.

"Do you have gas on you?"

She shook her head again.

"Well damn."

Rufus laughed and reached over Serah to pat my cheek. I stiffened automatically. "She's sweet enough on the inside; you'll win her heart, if you haven't already."

I scowled again.

Noctis smiled, and looked at me. Immediately, my embarrassment was replaced with... more embarrassment.

"I'll make it, sir."

"Good, good. How's your drawing going, Light?"

"Fine."

If my father noticed the irritation in my voice, he didn't comment on it. He seemed like he was going to ask more, but fortunately at that precise moment, Reno decided Rufus would look good with potato as his makeup.

I promised to myself then I would hug Reno in thanks later, even if he had the tendency to slap my ass every time I walked by him.

Rufus looked so shocked that no one could keep their faces straight; we all burst out laughing.

"Whoops! Sorry Prez!" Reno laughed, clutching his sides. "I didn't mean to hit you, yo. I was aiming for Tseng."

Tseng rolled his eyes, but even he was having trouble keeping a straight face.

Stiffly, my father said, "Reno, we'll talk about this later. For now, keep your potato to yourself."

"Yes sir." Reno fixed on his face a contrite mask, and looked down, but I saw his lips twitching with mirth and his eyes sparkling with good humour.

I doubted that it was Tseng he was really aiming for. All the more reason to thank him later.

Bradley wrapped an arm around Vanille, still laughing.

"Dad, you should really wipe that off," Cloud told him in a stiff tone. Cloud probably doesn't really like him all that much either.

Rufus took a napkin and wiped the potato off his face, then excused himself to rinse off the last bits. I mouthed 'thanks' to Reno, who smirked and winked back.

Yay for bodyguards with humour!

Someone's phone rang, playing the song 'Evil Angel'. All eyes went to Noctis, who excused himself as well to answer it. "Hey Mom," he said as he went to the living room.

Rufus came back in then, his face potato-free... mostly. My mom laughed when she saw him, and licked her finger, beckoning him to come closer. "Here, you missed a spot." She rubbed the bit of potato off his cheek.

I wondered if they realized how close their faces were to each other.

Then, my mom's finger stilled, and she looked up at him.

Yep, they did.

Vanille nudged me, and giggled. I resisted the urge to hit her – this man left us! He can't just... waltz back into our lives permanently.

My mom blushed, and pulled her hand back. Rufus didn't move. Until I cleared my throat. Then, he seemed to remember that he was surrounded by people... and went back to his seat.

Thankfully.

When I glanced at him, Cloud wasn't looking at them. He was staring at his plate, looking uncomfortable. I frowned.

Noctis' voice reached my ears.

"Mom, you can't- Just- Hey, don't- Mom, can we talk about this sometime else? This is not- Look, I know she's Dad's friend's daughter-," he paused here to listen to his mother, "Fine, whatever, the partner's daughter, but that doesn't mean I'll like her- damn! Mom, I'll talk to you when I get back," Noctis finally said acidly, and hung up. My eyebrows rose. He looked and sounded extremely pissed off.

"What's up?" Bradley asked when he came back in.

"My mom wants me to meet this girl," he grumbled, sitting down. "Some kinda blind date..."

I suddenly found the patterns on my plate extremely interesting. Vanille rubbed my arm. Rufus didn't say anything, but I saw his lips turn up slightly. Toni turned to Serah and started to talk about... clothes. What a surprise.

"That reminds me," Rufus said suddenly. "Lightning, you're going to have to meet someone tomorrow-"

"WHAT?!" I yelped.

"It's an arranged ma-"

"DON'T GIVE ME SHIT, WHO THE HELL AM I MEETING? AND WHY CAN'T CLOUD DO IT?!"

Cloud looked up and grinned slightly. "Because I'm not gay."

"Could've fooled me. What about Serah? Or Vanille?"

"You're the oldest daughter. Cloud's not taking over my business, so you-"

"I'm not doing it either!"

"Well, you're going to have to, young lady!" my father finally exploded. He stood up and glared at me. "You will be taking over Shinra Enterprises-"

"Yeah! Over my fucking dead body!"

"That can be arranged, yo," Reno offered, then was hit in the head by Rude. "Ow!"

"Rufus, you can't force me to-"

"It's Dad to you, sweetheart," my mother the traitor murmured.

"'s not! Cid's my father, not... _him_. God, mom, what the hell do you see in him?"

"Enough!" my father rumbled, stopping all argument. Noctis shot me a sympathetic look that I ignored. "You are the oldest daughter, therefore you _will_ take over Shinra Enterprises, or else! Understood?"

I opened my mouth to argue, but something in Noctis's eyes forced me to close my mouth. "Yes, _father_," I snarled, shoving my chair back. "If there's nothing else you need from me, I'll be out. Away from you."

My father narrowed his eyes, but said nothing except, "You'll thank me later."

"Only when Hell freezes over." With that, I fled the room. I heard someone following, but ignored it.

At least, until I was yanked back.

"Ow!"

"Lightning, are you-"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm peachy."

Noctis smiled slightly. "If it helps, I'm meeting someone tomorrow too."

"I know. And it doesn't, not really." There was a small silence, then I had a brainwave. "Hey! Should we pretend that we are madly in love and are going to get married like that show... what's it called again?"

Noctis laughed. "I don't watch chick flicks," he teased.

"Are you sure?"

He laughed again, and leaned in to kiss my cheek. "Can we go for a walk?"

I looked at him, then at the place where my family (and friend) sat, and shrugged. "Why not?"

* * *

**A little cliffie right here!**

**And this, my friends, is where I stop. I will be updating not very often, so just pray that I find the sudden inspiration for this story and decide to continue it!**

**Reviews are appreciated!**

**Ciao, amigos!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yet another short chapter to get me back into the swing of things. **

**Thank NaNo for the break in my writer's block!!**

**You guy missed me, right?**

**Right?**

_**Right?!**_

**Of course you did.**

**EXAMS ARE OVER!!!**

**Thank God.**

**If you hadn't missed me, I'm not going to tell you what happened on the walk with Lightning and Noctis :P So you'd better have missed me!**

**Oh yes! And the next chapter will be a Christmas Special, so look out for it. :) It'll be really random and stuff, and I'm posting it here because I need Rufus and Cloud and co. in it XD**

**So!**

**I've kept you guys on a two-month wait now.**

**I shall not keep you any longer!!!**

**... Ah curse you, old-fashioned NaNo characters for speaking like that and influencing me. –scowl-**

**This chapter is courtesy of my humorific muse, Atach Mexac. So say thanks!! I wasn't going to update this 'til next week, but he made me. **

**Sorry for the length, but my fingers are still suffering from the darned business test.

* * *

**

**-Chapter Nine-**

We are just friends.

We are _just_ friends.

We are just _friends_.

We are _just friends_.

_We are just friends we are just friends we are just friends-_

So why is he walking so darned close to me, his shoulder brushing mine and his knuckles practically glued to my back?

Answer: ... Well, I don't even know myself! How am I supposed to answer something I don't know?!

Argh!

I have to stop talking to myself.

Isn't talking to oneself a sure sign of insanity?

... Huh.

Probably means that I've lost my mind ages ago.

Noctis glanced over at me in concern. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Y-yeah..." How on earth can someone explain to a smoking hot, extremely composed guy exactly how smoking hot, extremely composed he is?! Because he is. Believe me.

He is.

"So where are we going?" I asked, sneakily trying to put some distance between us. It's not that I didn't like it – I did, but it was just... he was too close!

"For a walk," he responded; I rolled my eyes.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

"Yes, but where to?"

"Somewhere."

"Noctis, you're not dragging me off somewhere to elope, right?"

"What?!" The look he shot me was a completely shocked one. I fought back a laugh as he looked away quickly, his fair cheeks tinged with red.

"Kidding, I was kidding," I snickered.

"You had better be kidding!"

"What's wrong with eloping with me?" I teased, my lips curving upwards in what I hoped was an amused, sexy smile.

It must have been, because he seemed staggered when he glanced at me again. I had to grab his arm before he ran into a pole. "Careful." This is amusing. For once, I was the knight in shining armour and he the damsel in distress.

I allowed my smile to widen.

Not that he looked like he was a damsel in any way...

"Erm..." He seemed to be collecting his thoughts. I shot him a sneaky, sly look, and he swallowed. "Um, nothing's wrong with... eloping with you, but... my dad would kill your smi- I mean, your dad would kill me. And mine would probably, er... die... of..." He trailed off when I smiled even wider, his eyes practically bugging out of his head.

"Of what?" I asked, feeling exceptionally flirty today. I pressed close to him, giggling inwardly when he just continued to gape at me.

See, this is what you get when you hang around Serah and Vanille together for too long.

"Of... emba... embarrassment," he finally got out.

Took him long enough.

And I thought I was a complete blur case.

I laughed, and stepped away. He grinned at me, looking a little blur, but he was definitely in recovery from... my flirting skills?

Wow!

Serah, Vanille and Lebreau will be so proud of me.

Snow, too, probably.

And... my mom, maybe.

I mean, they've only tried to hook me up a bazillion times.

I grinned quietly to myself.

"Noctis!"

We both turned to see a beautiful blond I would expect be paired up with sky-blue eyes run up to him and throw her arms around the taller teen.

Startled, Noctis caught the girl. "Stella." He sounded a little surprised if not stiff, but definitely pleased and affectionate. As affectionate as a guy being glomped by a beautiful chick would expect.

And one who knew him really well as well.

Can life get any better?

Definitely.

I stood there for an entire five minutes – yes, _five_ _minutes_ – waiting for the girl to let go of Noctis. She was chattering away excitedly, in a speed so fast and a tone so high that I could barely catch her sentences. Once in a while she would squeal about something in an even higher pitched voice, so high that my ears began to hurt after the first time.

I pitied Noctis – his ear was right next to her mouth.

But he was probably used to this by now, if they really were that close.

_Were they dating?_

Surprised at the thought, I peered closer at them, wondering if they really _were_ going out. Stella sure acted like they were, but... but...

If they were going out, why did he kiss _me_? It wasn't as though the girl – Stella – wasn't hot enough; she was way hotter than me, that's for sure. But... but...

I was definitely overtaxing my poor brain.

I always said that it wouldn't be long before it completely shut down on me, anyway.

Having decided to stop thinking before I really went brain-dead, I saw now that Stella had let go of Noctis and was pointing at me, not very superiorly, as though she was someone he was going out with and I was his best girl friend who had a huge crush on him...

Which we weren't.

... Well, for me it applies...

"Hi there! I'm Stella. Noctis said that your name is Lightning? It's an interesting name – do you know why you were called that?"

Is there a mute button on this woman?!

Apparently not, because she kept nattering away as I tried to find the mute button that was definitely nonexistent.

Damn.

* * *

**So I introduced Stella into the story.**

**For the Stellis fans, I bet you're thinking 'FINALLY!!'.**

**Lightis fans...**

**-shrug-**

**Review please!**


	10. Chapter 10

**-Chapter 9 and a half-  
****_Christmas Sucks?_**

"Serah, can you tell me again why I'm doing this?"

"Because you promised."

"All right. Thanks. I just needed to remember how drunk I was last night-"

"I'm telling dad you were drinking if you don't just go with this."

"... Thank you. Now I remember."

Serah grinned.

"But honestly, Serah, why_ this_?"

"You need to look more like a girl."

"But... a _mini?_"

"Yeah! Noctis'll totally dig it-"

"... Isn't that Snow's line?"

"... No?"

"... Serah, have you been hanging out with Snow again?"

Serah blushed deeply, and Lightning's eyes snapped to her little sister's via mirror. "Serah!!" Lightning cried. "You're dating him, aren't you?"

The younger girl blushed even deeper, and nodded, a smile playing on her lips. "Yeah!"

"_SERAH!!!"_

"I'm sorry, okay?" Serah said helplessly. "He was just so nice the other day..."

"... Serah, I am going to kill him-"

"Don't!" Serah squealed, and covered her mouth with her hands. Lightning looked at her little sister, and sighed. Despite not having known her very well, she still felt protective of her. Serah's lower lip trembled. "Lightning, don't!" she pleaded.

Lightning frowned. "And why should I bash his head in?"

"Because I like him! A lot!"

Lightning stared at her dumbly. "Serah-"

"Lightning, you like Noctis a lot as well. Would you want me to hit him for your liking him?"

Lightning heaved a sigh. "For a start, Serah, you can't hit to save your life-"

"Hey!"

"Well it's true! And secondly..." Lightning bit her lower lip. "Yeah, I wouldn't like it," she admitted. Serah smiled triumphantly, and Lightning swatted her.

"I'm not a roach!"

"You act like one sometimes."

"Roaches don't smile."

"... That's what _you_ think!"

Serah rolled her eyes, and turned back to her bag. "Now for the final touch..."

She pulled out two articles of clothing that made Lightning step back.

"No. Oh no."

"Oh yes." Serah smirked, and stuck them on her older sister.

"_SAVE ME!!!!"_

--

Noctis almost choked on his wine when his friend screamed. He glanced up the stairs, bewildered, as Rufus Shinra _did_ choke. His son, Cloud, helpfully smacked him on the back, and glanced at Noctis.

"Maybe you want to check on your _girlfriend_," the blond sneered, and Noctis's gaze narrowed into a glare.

"Lightning isn't my girlfriend."

"Oh _sure._ You just hang around here because she's ugly-ass and you pity her, am I right?" Cloud asked softly, having stood up after stopping his father from choking to death and moving closer to Noctis, out of earshot of Shinra.

Noctis gritted his teeth, and decided to ignore the obnoxious boy. He would never understand the swirl of feelings he had each time he saw the girl.

"Eclair wasn't much of a looker when she was a kid," Cloud added.

"Eclair-"

"Lightning. Her real name is Eclair, but it was too 'girly' for her, so she changed it to Lightning."

_Why doesn't she change it back?_ Noctis wondered. She got shit from 'Lightning' each day at school...

"Eclair's too classy for her anyway."

Noctis frowned at Cloud. "You're an asshole."

Cloud shrugged. "You're an idiot," he replied.

_Not more than you are,_ Noctis wanted to say, but he forced himself to walk up the stairs. "Lightning? You okay- OOF!"

Lightning looked up at him, wild-eyed and panicky. "Save me from my sister!" she pleaded. Noctis didn't think – he stood, tugging her to her feet, and dove into the nearest room.

Which happened to be the storeroom.

Lightning began to giggle, and Noctis clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter. Footsteps sounded, and they faded away altogether as Serah ran downstairs, asking if they had seen Lightning.

Noctis let go of the girl, and stepped back. For the first time, he noted what she was wearing – a very short top that revealed her muscled stomach and a miniskirt that showed off her long stretch of legs. On her head was a Santa hat, and she wore a necklace of sparkling red beads. He blushed deeply, and looked away.

Lightning blinked, and glanced down at her attire. "... Serah got to me," she admitted. "She was going to make me wear heels, but I ran away before she shoved them on me."

"Good thinking," he replied, still not looking at her. He stared at the ceiling instead, and his jaw dropped.

Serah must have a very warped sense of humor to put mistletoe in the storeroom.

There was giggling outside.

Or she was a very good planner...

Lightning followed his gaze.

"Mistletoe," she whispered. Directly above their heads...

Noctis looked at her now, into her eyes. His breath caught when he saw that she was looking at him too, uncertainty in her eyes.

"... I'll kill Serah."

"Don't."

Noctis surprised himself. Did he really say that?

But he didn't want her to. He would thank the girl later...

But now, it was all about her.

Lightning.

He stepped forwards, and cradled his face in his hands. She closed her eyes. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Was there disappointment in her voice? She hid it well, but not well enough.

Noctis smiled, and answered by brushing his lips on hers. Electricity sparked between them where their skin connected, and her arms encircled his neck. He knew then that she knew of his feelings, and he also knew of hers.

This Christmas, Noctis decided, was not going to suck like the other Christmases.

Because he had her.

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**Ugh, mushy drabble, mushy drabble!!**

**Sorry for the rushiness. :/ Going to bed now!!**

**School tomorrow... Ugh...**

**Ciao!**

**REVIEW!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Yep! Flight of the Angels, Eclipse and It's Just A Crush all in one day!!**

**You must feel so happy.**

**I won't be here long, I've got to get food. But because I had been sick this past week, I had time to think over who EXACTLY would be the guy Lightning has to meet.**

**:)**

**Gotta go! Enjoy and review. Because you love me.

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**

**-Chapter Ten-**

_The next day..._

This girl was going to drive me insane.

And I'm not kidding.

Stella Nox Fleuret had already beaten a super-computer in terms of speaking so fast that I could barely keep up. She had already annoyed the hell out of me by talking about my wardrobe – or lack thereof. She was taking over my household, my family, and my sisters. She was rattling on and on about some economic shit I don't get to Rufus, who was warming up to her. She had offered to help my mother do something I would never do (as the maid did it for us already) – wash the clothes.

She was a miniature whirlwind.

And not to mention that she and Noctis were definitely going out.

"Hey! YournameisCloudright? It'snicetomeetyou! I'mStella-"

"I know."

"AndI'myoursister'snewbestfriend-"

"Good luck with that."

"Don'tyouthinkshe'-"

"She's my sister. I don't give a damn what she wears as long as it's something."

"OHMYGODisn'tthatlikeyoursword? It'?! OOHandaren''ssocutedon'tyouthink? She'ssooperfectforyou!"

"... Dad, can I stab her-"

"No, Cloud. Be nice."

"VANNY!! Let'sgoshopping,-"

"Okay! This'llbesoawesomeOHMYGOD-"

Good God, now there are _two_ of them!

"YeahIknow,comeonlet'sgogetourthings-"

Make that three.

My own sisters.

I had higher expectations of my own sisters. Too bad they let me down.

Noctis was sitting on the steps with his hands over his ears, a pained look on his face. I snickered, and he looked up. "What're you laughing at?" he mumbled. "I have to deal with this every day since she came."

"Your fault," I said immediately without thinking, causing Rufus to frown at me.

"Lightning, be nice."

I ignored him, and sat next to Noctis as the terrible threesome thundered back down the stairs.

"MOM! DAD!! We're going out with Stella!!" Vanille called, and bounded out the door.

"Be back in time to help Lightning dress up," was all mother darling said. Dress up? What- oh. Right.

Traitor.

Stupid arranged marriage.

"We will!!!" Stella replied cheerfully.

"Actually, Stella, I'll have to meet you back home. I think Dad wants to ask you something..." Noctis ventured.

"Oh." Stella frowned. "All right. When you get back, tell Uncle Caelum that I'll talk to him about... it, okay?" Wow. She was clear!

"It?" Vanille raised an eyebrow, and Stella shot me a grin before tugging my sisters away.

Uncle Caelum?

... So they're related?

"Yeah, Stella's my cousin," Noctis told me.

I had to stop being so obvious.

"Oh," I said intelligently. "I knew that."

He smirked, and stood. "I'd better get back... I've delayed going home for too long now. I guess I can't put it off completely." He stretched, and walked out the door, saying goodbye to everyone. I followed him to shut the door after him.

"I'll see you later," he told me, and kissed my cheek. Naturally, they turned to the exact same shade of a tomato, which is also the natural colour of my mother's hair.

"Okay," I mumbled, and shut the door.

I hope Noctis hated her, whoever she was.

--

"Just a little hairspray..."

"Think she needs mascara?"

"Nah, her eyelashes are long enough. Maybe a bit of that golden-brown eye shadow and some blusher."

"What about blue?"

"No, blue makes her look weird. A light red is good. Maybe white. Try them, Serah."

"Don't I get a say-?"

"No."

"No."

"I hate you both."

"She smudged her lipstick, Vanille."

"Stop biting your lip, Lightning."

"Sorry."

I wasn't.

Vanille finished spraying the flammable stuff on my hair and stepped back, smiling at her handiwork. "There! What do you two think?"

"I remind myself of a stag."

"She looks great, but I think we need something else..." Serah looked around and spotted a black headband with a red ribbon near where my right ear would be.

"Get rid of the ribbon, or I won't wear it."

"Don't be ridiculous, Light, you'll look great." Serah slid the velvet-covered plastic headband onto my head and stepped back, smiling brightly. "There!"

Vanille grinned. "I'll go get my camera."

"No!"

Too late, she was already gone.

I squeezed my eyes shut as Serah spun me to face the mirror. "I look hideous. And good thing too – maybe this won't work out if I look bad."

"Maybe you'll like him more than you like Noctis," Serah offered lamely. I shot her a sarcastic look quickly before shutting my eyes again. I'd hate anyone Rufus chose, she knew that. Even if he was as good-looking as Noctis. Or even better.

Not that I'd ditch Noctis for anyone.

And not that we were even together.

But still.

"Come on Light, just open your eyes."

I resisted.

"Open-"

"I've got it!!"

"Lightning, you're going to be late!"

Like I gave a damn.

"Farron, get your ass down here."

Snow was here too? This day was just getting better and better.

...

Sarcasm.

"Coming," I sighed, resigned. "Gimme a sec." I made my way for the door with my eyes closed, my hands flailing around in front of me. I heard Serah giggle.

"Come on, Lightning, open your eyes."

"Oh all right." Only because I'd hurt myself if I didn't. I mean, only because I'd have a higher chance of hurting myself than I would have if my eyes were open.

... Oh forget it.

I braced myself to race for the main door once I opened _my_ room door.

But it was, I could see from the moment I threw it open, impossible.

"You look beautiful!" my mother cried, and reached out to hug me. I stood stiffly in her embrace. I wasn't the huggy person. I think.

Rufus cleared his throat. "You look good," he told me.

All lies.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at my assemble – a black V-necked strapped-on-one-side-long-sleeved-on-the-other top, leather boots and a ruffled golden lame skirt. And it wasn't, as I thought, pronounced 'lame', but 'lamé'.

Um. Because I needed to know that, Vanille.

"I know I look like a hooker, Cloud. Stop staring at me like you're so shocked."

"Actually... you look okay."

I bet Tifa wore this once.

"Besides, you're not the hooker material."

Thank goodness for that.

"And you don't have the body."

"Thanks."

"No prob."

Rufus offered me his elbow. "Shall we go together?"

"So you and his father will be there?" I asked hopefully.

"Only for a while."

Damn it.

Oh but wait! There was a good side. I could fake being ill halfway and go home!

I am a genius.

A pure genius.

People should bow down to my geniusness.

I will rule the world!

... I hate mints.

"Wait! She might need this." Vanille stopped Rufus and I from stepping out the door – so close! – and pressed a metal can into my hands. I looked at it, confused, and then looked at her, also confused.

"In case," was her reply. She winked at me. "You know... if you two hit it off."

"Thanks, but I doubt I'll need it," I said dubiously. Any chance of me hitting it off with a stranger was absolute nil.

"Just take it," she insisted when I tried to give it back to her. "Go! Have fun with your hunk."

"My _what?!_"

But Rufus had already hustled me out the house, sensing what was coming at Vanille, and into the limo where two of the Turks were already lounging. Reno looked me up and down appreciatively, and winked roguishly. Tseng just looked bored, thankfully keeping his eyes off my ass. Unlike Reno.

I _had_ to sit next to the oversexed redhead.

"Dad, this isn't a good idea," I started to try talk myself out of this. Rufus sighed.

"Lightning-"

"No, listen to me. I'm _hopeless_ with a capital H with guys. I have _no_ idea what to do. And I'm... erm..." Because your sex life isn't something you discussed with your dad – or anyone else, for that matter. But this was an emergency. "I'm still a virgin," I hissed.

Reno smirked. "I can take care of that."

I dug my elbow into his stomach. "Shut. Up."

He doubled over in pain.

The cons of having bodyguards tailing your father everywhere when you need to talk to him privately.

Tseng snorted with amusement, and then straightened his face when Rufus glanced his way. "Keep Reno in check," my birth father told his head bodyguard tonelessly. Tseng nodded, and yanked Reno's head down.

"Ow! Fuck!" Reno tried to raise his head, but Tseng placed both his feet on Reno's back, preventing him from getting up.

"Keep it down."

Surprisingly, Reno didn't put up much of a fight – until I realized he was trying to peek under my skirt.

Asshole.

I crossed my legs.

Hah.

Reno muttered something that sounded like 'prudish women' and received a hit from Tseng's shoe.

I could tell that the dark-haired man was enjoying this.

Whatever. I had a mission to accomplish.

"Dad, come on. Anyone could see that Vanille or Serah would be better at this than I am," I hissed.

"Are you telling me that both your sisters are no longer virgins?"

"... "

Whoa. That was unexpected. Even Tseng and Reno were staring at him. At least, Tseng was – Reno appeared to have passed out from too much blood rushing to his head.

"Dad, are you feeling okay?" I asked carefully.

"Honey, I was kidding."

"You don't kid a lot," I grumbled. "How was I supposed to know?"

Rufus shrugged, and patted my shoulder.

"You'll like him, I promise," he said soothingly. I grumbled under my breath again, and sank down in my seat, sulking.

It didn't take me long to realize that Reno was, in fact, still conscious. It took me one more second to realize that he had been waiting for me to uncross my legs and let my guard down. After that, it took me five minutes to beat the crap out of him while sitting down.

Because I can.

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**Woosh!! Read and review!!**

**Also, tell me who you think the person she's meeting is! I'll give you a hint – you've seen him before.**

**Hehehe!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Okay, okay, I know it's been AGES since I last updated! I hope you'll all forgive me! –bows down- I'm trying to write a super-long chappie for everyone 8D

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**

-**Chapter Eleven-**

It was him.

Oh God.

Oh God.

Oh God oh God.

As I stood stock-still at the entrance of the restaurant, only one thought registered in my mind – _Hey, Dad really did hate me!_

Which was nice to know.

Well, not really.

But you know.

Nice to know.

"Light-"

A hand poked my back, and I smacked it away. Reno backed up, raising his hands in apology. "Sorry, Princess," he said mockingly, and I glared at him until he turned away. "Jeez, you're just like your brother."

"Thanks," I said dryly. "I'm taking that as a personal insult." I started to brush past him when Tseng grabbed my arm.

"Lightning, where are you going?" Rufus wanted to know. "He's right there-"

"I know, Dad, I saw him," I replied. "I'm just getting the hell out of here before he notices-"

"Lightning?"

_God _damn it.

I turned around and looked at him. "Yes, that is my name."

"Great." He grinned easily, and took my hand. "Let's go sit down," he suggested, already pulling me along. I groaned inwardly, but let myself be dragged behind him. I glanced down, expecting furrows in the ground where my heels were pressing into them, but I was almost surprised when there wasn't.

_Almost._

I still feel like a hooker.

"You look like you're about to pass out," he remarked, eyes dancing as he studied my face. "I mean, under the make-up. Wow. Just how many baskets of the stuff did you get through before you were done?" he teased. I scowled at him, knowing that he knew that I did not wear make-up consciously.

Rufus joined us then, there in the private for-very-important-people-only room. He appeared to have heard the guy's last comment, and said with a smile, "Come on Marcus, you know that she's beautiful."

"Da-_ad_!" I wailed, blushing bright red. I didn't know which was worse – that Marcus, Noctis's own older brother had heard my dad call me beautiful _in public_, or that he'd actually noticed.

Which, I realized as I thought about it a little later, was kind of creepy.

But one thing I couldn't get my mind of was why, when Rufus knew that I actually preferred the quieter son over the more promiscuous one, he had chosen Marcus. It was pretty obvious that my birth father was completely oblivious to Marcus's... antics in high-school, but anyone could tell that Noctis was the better child.

Marcus just grinned at me in an appreciative way. "Well of course," he said smoothly. "After all, she _is_ your daughter."

Rufus beamed.

... Well that explained it. Everyone knew that Rufus was a sucker for compliments.

I sighed and slumped in my seat, earning a disapproving glance from the great Mr. Shinra himself.

But whatever. They started to talk, a little too enthusiastically for a college student on Marcus's part, about... the economy? I shuddered slightly to myself. _What on earth is Dad getting me into?_

He knew that I hated all talk about politics and the economy. Well, hated it because I was terrible at it. What was with the boom part anyway? An explosion somewhere in the world? Sounded a bit weird to me...

A little while later, Rufus was checking his diamond-studded watch._ Honestly, I thought diamonds were a _woman's_ best friend..._

Guess I was wrong then.

"I'd better go now, since your father appears to be busy," Rufus said with a smile. "I'll catch up with you again, Marcus. Have fun, Light." He stood and lifted a hand in farewell to his daughter before exiting just as the waiter came in.

Wow. Talk about bad service.

But that thought faded when I saw Rufus tip the waiter, thanking him for waiting until he left. "Hope you don't get fired, Steve," Rufus said with a smile.

"Don't worry sir. Boss understands the customers' wishes," Steve assured my father, tucking the money away before walking up to the table with a pad and pencil in hand. "What will it be, sir, madam?"

"Umm..."

"Lightning?" Marcus looked at me with a smile.

"Umm... a salad?" I said weakly to save myself the trouble of picking out a main course. For one thing, I felt too restless to eat, and for another, I felt that if I ate anything heavy in this, it would come off.

The clothes, I mean.

Marcus grinned. "All right. Ceasar?"

I nodded.

The waiter scribbled down our order – my salad and his steak. Marcus wanted to order a champagne until I reminded him that I was still underage, so he changed it to two sodas instead.

When the waiter had gone to give the chef our orders, Marcus turned to me. "Man I hate it when I go out with anyone underage," he grumbled.

I shrugged. "You agreed to this," I shot back.

He shook his head. "Actually, I was just as surprised as you obviously were," he told me. "I didn't know that I'd have to meet and marry my brother's girlfriend."

I flushed. "Noctis isn't my girlfriend."

"Yeah I think I noticed after all the years of living with him," Marcus said dryly. "Besides, I was the one who had to talk him through puberty – my father cracked up whenever it was mentioned." He shook his head, an amused look crossing his face.

I frowned at him.

It wasn't long before my eyes had widened with shock as I realized what I just said. "Wait, I meant that Noctis isn't my _boyfriend_. I know he's not a girl, I'm not a lesbian!" I exclaimed, just as Steve came back with our drinks. He stopped at the doorway until we both looked around at him.

My cheeks turned bright red, and I ducked my head.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marcus lift a hand and beckon to the poor waiter. "Thanks," he grinned at Steve as the latter put the drinks on the table.

"Not a problem, sir," Steve said respectfully, shooting me a curious look. I fixed my eyes on the table, but I caught flashes of movement as Steve left, shutting the door behind him.

We sat in complete and utter silence.

"Well," Marcus said cheerfully, breaking it, "that was awkward, wasn't it?"

I scowled at the table, even though it wasn't its fault.

"You can look up now, Light. He's gone."

"I know."

"So how come you're not looking up?"

"Because the table and I are having a conversation," I replied, my voice muffled. "Right table?"

Marcus laughed. "You're insane."

"In a good way."

"Well yes." He sounded like he was smiling. I dared to glance up to check – and I was right.

But I also noticed something else.

Like the fact that, from the side, he looked like Noctis. They had the same strong features, the same beautiful mouth and exactly the same look of amusement that was almost always there whenever I made a complete and utter fool of myself.

Which was actually quite often, now that I think of it.

But then again...

I found myself completely and utterly mesmerized by him. Because, of course, of his resemblance to his little brother. I know that it shouldn't have been too shocking to me, but somehow I'd never actually thought that they'd look almost exactly alike.

I mean... they could have been _twins_ to me if I hadn't known better.

Well, except that Noctis is just a tad shorter, and he had extremely spiky hair, whereas Marcus kept his sleek and long, tucked behind his ears. He also had more noticeable sideburns... but that was probably because Noctis's hair was longer at the side. And of course, his was blue. And their eyes were slightly different. Noctis's eyes were a brilliant shade of amber – there was no other word for it – while Marcus had... hazel eyes, from what I could tell in the dim light of the restaurant.

As Marcus took a sip of his drink, I felt as though the sun had gone in.

If I hadn't known better... If I hadn't heard my father call him Marcus... And if I hadn't known that Noctis wasn't as cocky as his older brother...

I'd think that I was sitting in the room of the fancy not-romantic restaurant where the waiter called Steve worked with my very own Noctis.

oOo

"So how did it go?"

Serah's bright voice was too loud. Far, far too loud.

I groaned, and covered my face with my pillow. "Go 'way, Serah," I mumbled.

"You were drinking! Oh just you wait 'til I tell Mom," I heard Vanille fume. I almost laughed out loud at her.

"Vanny, you got drunk. At _fourteen._ It's no wonder Mom banned you from alcohol 'til you're twenty-one," I said through my pillow-shield. "Now go away, I'm tired."

"You have to get up," I heard Serah. Was she standing right next to me or something? Her voice was so loud. It was making my head hurt...

What had happened last night?

All I remembered was studying Marcus closely, noting everything that Noctis would've done, and seeing the sheen of blue in his hair in the flashing light of the club he'd taken me to. I remembered that he had caught me staring at him, and gave me a smile so like Noctis's that I could've cried.

Not that I did.

But I knew he was Marcus... he hadn't reacted when in a moment of not-drunken stupor I had whispered Noctis's name – I remembered that because I remembered feeling so embarrassed; he had just hugged me sympathetically, not even correcting me! I remembered feeling grateful when he offered to take me home, and even more so when he wrapped an arm around me as I fell asleep at his side – the chauffeured car had been freezing.

I blushed now, thinking about it.

But I was _not_ falling for Noctis's older brother. We were just friends.

Right?

Well.

Friends-to-be-engaged, really.

I sighed through the pillow; my idiotic, romance-obsessed sisters took it for a sigh of happiness and started squealing, which started up my headache all over again.

It was only after I threatened them to get out of my room and promised to tell them about my day later did they run out, giggling madly and high-fiving each other. I heard Vanille calling for mom, presumably to tell her about the 'good news'.

I pushed myself upright tiredly, and rubbed my temples. Just how much did I drink?

Too much, probably.

With a sigh, I got out of bed slowly and stumbled to the bathroom. A couple of aspirins and a nice hot bath later, my headache had lessened, if not completely vanished.

When I got out, I found the aforementioned idiotic, romance-obsessed sisters sitting on my bed, faces eager. I scowled at them. "Can't I at least get changed?"

"Sure, go ahead."

I stopped and waited for them to leave.

Nothing happened.

"Um, in _private_?" I hissed.

Serah shot to her feet. "Oh, right. Oops! Come on Vanny, we'll wait outside." She gripped my other sister's hand and tugged her out of the room. Just as they started to step out of the door, Serah looked over her shoulder to shoot me a stern look. "We'll be right here. Waiting. So don't even think of locking the door and escaping out the window."

"I won't," I promised resignedly with a scowl. "My muscles aren't up to the challenge." They really weren't, but Serah shot me a warning look as she shut the door behind her.

I sighed, and went to my closet to pull out my 'comfort clothes' – a pair of sweatpants and a well worn-in T-shirt. I was just tugging on the last item of clothing – the shirt – when my enthusiastic sisters burst back into my room.

"Okay, you're up and dressed. So, tell us, tell us!" Vanille, on her hands and knees, bounced on my bed eagerly. Serah nodded in agreement; the two of them had the same mask of excitement on their faces.

"There isn't anything to tell-" I started, but was cut off by the older of my younger sisters.

"Oh please! We know you got drunk, but surely there's _something_ you remember," Vanille said in disgust.

As soon as she said that, I remembered what I had been thinking about this morning, and turned into a ripe tomato.

My sisters, unfortunately, saw this before I could turn away.

"She does, she does!"

"Come on Light, we want every juicy detail!" Serah and Vanille were bouncing so hard that I could hear my bedsprings squeaking a protest.

"There's nothing to say," I protested again, but my words fell on deaf ears. When my sisters wanted something, boy, did they_ want _it.

Now I knew why Mom and Dad bought them so many things. It was just to shut them up so they could go on with their lives in peace.

My sisters both shot me looks that clearly suggested that they were thinking, 'yeah, right!' I sighed.

"Well... he bought me lunch."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Don't swear, Serah," I said automatically.

"You do it all the time."

She got me there.

"He decided that we were going on a walk... but then it started raining and we had run for it." I almost smiled at the memory. That was actually quite funny...

Apparently, it was romantic too.

Both my sisters sighed happily. "That's so sweet," Serah gushed.

"Yeah," Vanille nodded rapidly. "I mean, the two of you trapped in the rain with no umbrella... Did he try to kiss you?" she asked eagerly.

"Vanille!"

"Well he should've! It was the perfect time." She seemed even more upset than she should be originally. And shouldn't it be the other way round? Me upset and her comforting me?

Ah, that's right.

I'm not a hopeless romantic.

"We don't like each other that way," I tried to explain, but neither of them listened.

"Yeah, sure. Go on." I scowled at Vanille.

"Go on!" she urged, actually flapping her hands at me.

I scowled at her.

"Well the rain stopped."

"Oh that's _so_ interesting," Serah said in a sarcastic tone. Vanille smacked her. "Let her talk!" she exclaimed.

"Well clearly Serah doesn't want to hear-."

"_She does!"_

"_I do!"_

I scowled, my chance to escape having faded away. "Fine. He took me for a dinner afterwards and then we went to a club and came back. Happy?" I crossed my arms, feeling the headache creep back slowly. My sisters nodded, and started firing annoying and embarrassing questions at me.

But then again, it could be worse. It could've been in public.

Resigning myself to a long day, I began to answer them.

* * *

**Pretty long, right? 8D**

**Aren't you happy? :) **

**No?**

**D:**

**Oh fine =[**

**Anyway I'm not quite sure when I'll update, but I promise to do it ASAP! ^_^**

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**Until the next update!**


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